Echo is an AI transcription tool that uses near-human speech recognition technology to transcribe audio and video input into text and subtitles. Powered by Lightning and OpenAI's Whisper, this web-based AI transcriber produces high-quality transcriptions within seconds.

Developed by Alec Merdler, this production-ready audio and video transcription application can run on a laptop as well as in the cloud. It not only transcribes audio but also translates the content and captions it. Output is available as both .srt and .txt files.

How does Echo work?

This web-based free transcription tool features two panels, one for input and one for output. Users can upload up to 3 files, YouTube links, or audio content recorded with their device microphone. They must name their content and wait a few seconds for the transcribed version to appear, along with text and subtitle download options.

What can users do with Echo?

Translators and subtitlers can use the Echo AI transcriber to produce audio and video transcriptions with adequate accuracy, as the tool understands context. However, speakers’ accents and background noise will affect the quality of the captioning in subtitles, the sequencing, and the overall transcribed text.

Is Echo suitable for high-volume transcription?

Echo AI limits the amount of content to 5 minutes per file and 3 files in total. It will not save the ‘Echos’ it creates, it does not allow users to rename their files, and it will delete all data within 24 hours. Thus, it’s mostly suited to small-scale transcription projects.

Translation, subtitling, and transcription

Considering it is free, Echo can be an extremely useful alternative to those in film and media who are pressed for time. Notwithstanding its inability to accommodate accents and background noise, this tool makes a great assistant for quick captions, translations, and transcriptions.